Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
My stepsister is taking care of all of her fathers finances. My Mom died one year ago.
Can my stepsister do whatever she wants with his finances. can she remove money from his account via ATM or write checks to herself? Is there anything the rest of the family can do about this? She took him toan attorney and had him change the living trust and take my name off of it as co-consecutor of the trust. It seems now that he is in control of everything (my Mom's home and their shared home) and when he dies she is in charge of all the distribution of "whatever" is left. Do we have any rights?
1 Answer from Attorneys
You probably have some rights; however, what those rights are depends on the answer to a number of questions such as: (i) is there any evidence of undue influence?; (ii) are you or anyone else in the family still a beneficiary named in the Trust?; (iii) has your father given her a power of attorney?; and (iv) did the Trust instrument provide that your father is permitted to change the terms of the Trust after your mother's death, among others.
Generally speaking, a trustee of a trust has a fidicuiary duty to all of the beneficiaries of the trust to protect the trust assets and to do nothing that would favor the trustee over the beneficiaries of the trust.
To fully understand what your rights may be, you should probably take a copy of the Trust and whever documents you believe your stepsister caused your father to execute to an estate planning or probate litigation attorney in your area and discuss your specific situation with him or her.
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